When the economy’s down, it can be tough to find funding for an independent film, let alone the money for widespread distribution. Paul Sapiano and the producers of the upcoming “Hollywood Sex Wars” know this better than anyone, which is why they’re turning to the internet with hopes of crowdsourcing a round of funding to help bring the film around the country.

If you don’t know Sapiano, he’s the writer behind “The Boys And Girls Guide To Getting Down.” His new comedy, “Hollywood Sex Wars,” takes off in the same vein, satirizing the world of single Hollywood. It’s an epic showdown between a local a trade union of Silverlake strippers – the “Local 69” – and three young men on a mission to get as much tail as possible.

My personal favorite is “The Eliot Spitzer Experience,” which comes with 2 VIP tickets to the premiere and a walk the red carpet, after party tickets, escorted introductions to meet the cast and crew, an autographed movie poster, your name in the film credits and on the website, a cameo role in the film, and a couple t-shirts and DVDs to top things off. If you don’t have a spare grand to donate, $9 still gets your name in the credits and on the website as a proud supporter of the project.

Let’s celebrate the fact that we’ve seen the back of another black day…by not moping about it. I love Depeche Mode and all, but it’s Friday. Time to enjoy life, not survive it.

In the summer of 1988, with those danceteria types dominating the burgeoning modern rock scene, the Godfathers made an instant, indelible impression. Dressed in business suits (and occasionally leather) with nary a synthesizer to be heard for miles, and armed with the best chain gang chorus ever, the Godfathers just oozed cool. And if you can find four other words that describe life more succinctly, we’d love to hear them.

And listen to that sing-speak voice of Peter Coyne. Beats Lou Reed’s all to hell. We’re still trying to figure out just what Michael Caine movie he’s referring to, though. Happy Friday, everyone.

Summer is here. Well, it’s been here for a while in most parts of the country, and there is lots of it left. That means beaches, lots of outdoor activities and one of the things guys love most–grilling.

But have you ever been in a situation where you just want to spontaneously grill, and you can’t because you’re on the road, unprepared, or out of propane or charcoal?

Well, EZ Grill has the answer, and is the answer for you. Before I ramble on into info-mercialism here, I’ll just tell you that I was sent a sample of one of these mechanisms to try, and I finally did so for lunch today. And let me tell you, it not only cooked my bratwurst to perfection (yeah, I live in Wisconsin), but it was so easy a monkey could do it.

All you need to do is remove the plastic packaging and cardboard top that has the directions on it. You shake the grill and put it on its little stand. Then, and this is important….you have to place it on a heat-resistant surface. For me, this was the concrete patio off of our den. You light the paper underneath the grates that fires up the charcoal beneath it, and you’re ready to rock. After about 10-15 minutes of flames, the grill is ready when the coals are charred and the flames have died down. For you pros, you could have just skipped the last few lines…that’s Grilling 101. Anyway, it took my brat about 10 minutes to cook, and it was previously frozen. So that’s pretty awesome.

The grill is small….it might be able to fit 4 burgers or so. But you can always buy more than one. It’s also disposable and recyclable. A win-win for you and for the environment. And it’s inexpensive. I saw one in the store for $20, but now you can even buy this bundle pack for $19.99. Yes, and if you order now…..(sorry, couldn’t resist!). But you get the idea. This is a great product. Buy a few and keep them on hand or in the trunk of your car for when you might need it.

There are those who, when approached with the opportunity to venture forth to Daytona Beach, FL, and attend not one but two NASCAR races, would do a dance of joy…one which would, quite possibly, resemble the Boot Scootin’ Boogie. (Does anyone even still do that anymore? I apologize: my country music references are highly dated.) My reaction to this kind offer, however, was to acknowledge its inherent coolness in principle, then take a step back and allow someone else to take advantage of the opportunity. Yes, my inner child was jumping up and down at the thought of a free trip to Florida, but my inner journalist immediately reminded me of the score:

“Not only do you not know jack about NASCAR, but you have no real interest in any kind of sports. Surely someone…anyone…would be better suited to tackle this trip than you.”

My inner journalist may not get to come out and play very often, but when he’s right, he’s right. Despite the accuracy of his premise, however, the reality of the situation was that there was no one else to tackle the trip: everyone else’s schedule for the 4th of July weekend was already booked up. As such, all eyes turned to the guy who’d made the mistake of casually saying, “I guess I can do it if no one else is available.”

Whoops. Guess I’m going to Daytona.

Day 1:

As I have never, ever taken a trip for Bullz-Eye that hasn’t involved some sort of flight delay, it doesn’t really come as any surprise that the trip from Norfolk to Daytona finds me stuck in Charlotte for longer than I’m supposed to be. I didn’t even bother to try and find out what the problem was. I just shrugged, sat down and plugged in the laptop, and kept myself occupied until my flight finally did get around to taking off. I did have one brief panic attack when I called the hotel in Daytona to make sure that my delay wouldn’t complicate the rest of the day’s plans, only to learn that there was no reservation listed under my name, but it all worked out in the end. (Turns out everything was booked under the blanket name of “Dodge.”) Once I successfully manage to fly Charlotte to Daytona, I take a taxi to the hotel, check into my room, and gaze longingly at the beach outside my window, never realizing that the weekend will work out such that I will never get to take advantage of it. Still, it sure looked nice…

Once I arrive, I meet my “handlers” for the weekend, Philip and Chuck, who work with Dodge through their employers, New Media Strategies. They’re great guys, but they’re very much car guys…not, as Seinfeld once said, that there’s anything wrong with that. It’s simply that I’m not a car guy. Oh, right, I don’t think I mentioned that before, did I? Yeah, there’s another really good reason why I wasn’t necessarily the best person for this trip. And, yet, in a sense, I’m the perfect person, since I’m able to provide an outsider’s view of the whole experience…or, at least, that’s the angle I’m planning to take. (I say that like there’s any other angle I can take.) I let Philip and Chuck know of my deficiency of knowledge in this weekend’s events. They assure me that they’ll fill me in if I need any additional education to fully appreciate the goings-on. For this, I am grateful.

As I type this very sentence, I’m in prep mode for the Smashing Pumpkins concert tonight at the NorVa, in Norfolk, VA. Yesterday, however, I was in conversation with the man who fronts the Smashing Pumpkins: Billy Corgan. The opportunity to chat with Corgan came up at the last second, so I’m in debt to my friends and fellow writers who stepped up to the plate and provided me with a few questions, but I managed to slip in a few of my own invention as well. During our conversation, we discussed the current state of the Pumpkins (as you probably already know, he’s the only original member in the line-up), their new music, why he gets frustrated with fans who can’t get exited about his attempts to move forward, and the chances of seeing him playing alongside Jimmy Chamberlin, James Iha, and D’arcy Wretzky again anytime soon. Hint: it’s about as likely as world peace.

Billy Corgan: Hi, Will!

Bullz-Eye: Hey, Billy, good to talk to you!

BC: Thank you!

BE: Well, I know you guys are on tour at the moment, but I actually wanted to kick off by asking you about something from the studio. How did the release of the Teargarden by Kaleidyscope Vol. 1 EP go for you? Was the reaction better or worse than you expected?

BC: It was…probably in the range of expectation, which I have to admit wasn’t real high. (Laughs) Because I knew that I was doing something kind of different, and I thought it would take awhile to put across the different ideas. Not just musical, but, y’know, “Why free? Why have a limited edition?” All of these types of things. I think that part’s gone okay. Musically, I’ve been more focused on trying to figure out a sort of musical way to connect and how that’s going to work over the long range in keeping myself and fans interested. I’ve been sort of more focused on that.

BE: Of the songs I’ve heard thus far, I think my favorite song is “A Stitch in Time.”

BC: Oh, thank you! That’s funny, I was just talking about that: some of the hardcore Smashing Pumpkins fans don’t think very much of that song, and I don’t understand why. I think it’s a very strong song.

BE: I mean this in the best possible way, but…it’s very much a pop song.

BC: (Hesitates) Yeah, but I also think it fits well with some of my other acoustic material, like “Disarm” and things like that. It’s very hard to write an acoustic song that has a narrative just within the acoustic form, if that makes sense, where the song can just hold up as an acoustic song and not just be, like, a nice song that you’re playing acoustically. I sort of look at them differently. And I see it in that way. Maybe people don’t like the production on it, I don’t know. But, yeah, I really like it. It’s one my favorite songs.

BE: So will these songs be collected in the future, a la The Aeroplane Flies High?

BC: Yeah, the plan is to ultimately create a full box that would include all the released material, hopefully some unreleased material, and then maybe, like, a DVD or a documentary. Some kind of reason to get the whole thing all at once.